The death of Vardis Vardinoyannis at the age of 91 marked the end of an era in Greek business, as he and his brothers had built a veritable business empire since the early 1970s.
A relatively unknown aspect of Vardis Vardinoyannis’s life concerns his direct involvement in the resistance against the colonels’ junta, an involvement that cost him his career in the Navy. Vardis Vardinoyannis graduated from the Naval Cadet School in 1955 and pursued a career as an officer in the Navy (then the Royal Navy), just like his brother, Nikos.
He was forcibly discharged in July 1967 by the dictatorial regime of April 21 with the rank of commander, due to his resistance activities, and was exiled to Amorgos. He became involved in the Navy’s anti-dictatorship movement and helped ensure that ships would be supplied in the event of an uprising.
As Marianna Vardinoyannis recounted regarding her husband’s exile, «My own memories take my thoughts to Amorgos, where, as a young woman, leaving behind two small children and an infant in my mother’s care, with a heart full of anxiety but above all full of love, I went to meet my husband, who was in exile as a Navy officer in the Resistance. There, I felt—and I will never forget—just how much warmth and kindness such a tiny little room could hold. It was the solidarity of the locals that kept us going, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their love and support.».
Upon his return from exile, Vardis Vardinoyannis became involved in his brother’s businesses and, in 1972, took over their management following his brother’s untimely death. Since then, he has led one of Greece’s largest business groups, having built an international portfolio of activities spanning the oil, shipping, banking, and hospitality sectors, as well as the media.
The most significant of these are Motor Oil, Optima Bank, Vegas Oil and Gas (Egypt), Avin Oil, ANEK Lines, Ellaktor, Star Channel, Alpha TV, NJV Athens Plaza, AVE Group of Companies, Odeon, and others. The flagship of the group is considered to be the Motor Oil Hellas refinery complex, which was founded in 1970 and began operations in 1972.
It should be recalled that in November 1990, the terrorist organization «17 November» carried out a rocket attack against him. The rockets struck the car he was riding in, but Vardinoyannis survived thanks to its very strong armor. In a conversation he had immediately afterward with his close friend Antonis Livani (then director of Andreas Papandreou’s political office), he joked: “Saravakos took a penalty kick and hit the crossbar…”.
